Climate-resilient Banjul: Enhancing Urban Resilience in the Greater Banjul Area (CLIMB)

The Gambia is a small West African country situated predominantly within the low-lying, flood-prone Gambia River basin. This geographical setting, combined with socio-economic challenges in the region, renders the Gambian population particularly susceptible to climate change-induced impacts such as flooding, rising sea levels, and coastal erosion. The impacts of these climate hazards are most evident in the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) — a highly urbanized region with a population density of ~3,800 people per square kilometre (km²) and an average elevation of ~5 metres above sea level (masl). In this region, limited spatial planning and heavy reliance on climate-sensitive economic sectors have compounded the vulnerability of urban and peri-urban communities to more frequent and severe extreme climate events, including floods, droughts, and heatwaves. Climate data indic nate a trend of increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation across The Gambia, with subsequent increases in rainfall variability. In the GBA, mean annual temperatures have increased by ~1°C since the 1960s, while average annual rainfall has decreased from ~1,000 mm to ~700 mm over the same period. This has not only resulted in increased heat stress and water insecurity for communities in the GBA, but has also led to degradation of critical ecosystems, such as mangroves, wetlands and forests. The region’s climate resilience is further threatened by rising sea levels, with coastal erosion rates averaging ~2 metres per year (m/yr) since the 1990s, intensifying disaster risk in coastal areas and impacting densely populated regions and crucial tourism infrastructure. These observed changes in climate variables have been coupled with an increase in extreme weather events — for example, significant floods in 2022, which impacted ~50,000 people. Administratively, The Gambia is divided into regions and Local Government Areas (LGAs), which serve as a foundation for localized governance and the execution of projects that enhance resilience. Despite the country's extensive frameworks for Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) at the national scale, rapid urbanization rates and uncontrolled urban sprawl within the GBA have led to: i) the expansion of informal settlements into high-risk areas; ii) the deterioration of infrastructure; and ii) accelerated environmental degradation. These challenges are exacerbated by the current and anticipated impacts of climate change, including shifts in rainfall patterns, Sea-Level Rise (SLR) and temperature fluctuations, which pose considerable risks to the country's natural resources, ecosystems and the well-being of its residents. These climate impacts disproportionately affect women, Indigenous People, and local communities (IPLCs), who often have fewer resources and less access to decision-making, limiting their ability to recover from disasters and adapt to changing conditions. These groups also face higher risks of displacement, increased workloads in securing water and food, and greater health and safety challenges during extreme climate events. The primary objective of the proposed project is to enhance the climate resilience of communities in the Greater Banjul Area by scaling up investments in urban Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) solutions. The project strategy will address both existing vulnerabilities and those intensified by climate change, thereby enhancing the resilience of communities – particularly emphasising the roles and needs of women and IPLCs – in the GBA against negative outcomes and fostering sustainable growth. The project will also align strategically with ongoing initiatives, such as the West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA), prioritising inclusive planning and execution to envisage a resilient and sustainable future for The Gambia. To this end, the proposed project will support the deployment of comprehensive strategies that protect natural resources and, boost economic stability. Focusing on those in vulnerable urban and peri-urban settings. The proposed GEF project will enhance the resilience of target communities to climate change within the GBA using an integrated approach that combines: i) gender-responsive capacity-building initiatives; ii) sustainable land-management and natural resource use; iii) the implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) technologies and iv) enhanced knowledge management. This integrated approach will ensure that proposed project interventions synergistically address barriers related to limited urban planning, insufficient financial resources for investment in EbA and limited public awareness of climate change adaptation strategies — to attain a sustainable and transformative impact for vulnerable urban and peri-urban communities under future climate scenarios. By incorporating a diverse range of project interventions with short-, medium-, and long-term benefits, the preferred adaptation solution will address both existing vulnerabilities and those intensified by climate change, bolstering the resilience of the target population to climate change-induced flooding, rising sea levels, droughts, and heat waves.